A lot has happened in the past 3 yrs since I wrote last, which is to be expected. So here are the major events...
•Switched my major to Art Education (from just Art)
•Continued to work in the water park each summer
•Studied abroad in Seville, Spain for a semester
•Trained for and ran a half marathon (in Malaga, Spain)
...There are lots of other things, like road trips, that I would have written about at the time, but I don't need to mention now.

While I was in Spain, everything took a LOT of concentration. It is really tiring to be in another country that speaks a different language and has different customs. Even watching TV was exhausting (and they eat every meal around the television). The experience was amazing overall, so hopefully I'll write more about it later....

I had forgotten how tiring it is to be immersed in another language until tonight. One of my friends (who went to El Salvador for 6 wks this past summer) and I went to a hispanic church service. We had talked about it for a while b/c we're trying to find ways to practice our Spanish, and there is also just something awesome about singing worship songs in Spanish (words written for you, don't need to worry about pronunciation as much b/c it goes w/ the song tune and everyone is singing at once, and it's a good reminder of how big and present God is. God created and knows all the languages of the world. He will listen to us no matter where we are or what language we use, which was a huge help for me to remember when I was adjusting to being in Spain.)

The congregation was very nice to us, and we had convos with a few people (some in Spanish, others in English), but it was harder for me to understand everything (especially things spoken to the whole congregation- one-one-one is easier) than I expected. I learned a lot through being in Spain, and I've practiced reading, speaking, and hearing Spanish often since being back. However, when I'm around native speakers and multiple things are happening at once, it's tough. Sometimes people mumbled or didn't speak loud enough (when members of the congregation shared about what's happening in their lives). There were many background noises (kids talking and moving around, people turning pages in the Bibles, coughing, etc). Day dreaming for even a second causes you to be lost for a brief period (longer if you don't refocus quickly).

None of these things would have been barriers in my native language. How many times have I driven around with the radio on, while talking to a friend in the passengers seat, while someone is on the phone in the backseat, while another person in the back is singing along to the radio, and not had any problems holding the convo- even when the friend on the phone buts in and asks a question about directions?

Listening to someone talk in your native language is relaxing. Listening to someone talk in another language is quite the opposite- even if you're pretty good at it. I can hold convos in Spanish pretty well about most things and comprehend written spanish. I find listening to a Spanish sermon or lecture to be harder b/c my brain has to work so hard to simultaneously focus, tune out distractions, comprehend, and not miss the next point the speaker is saying. Putting myself into a situation like this is a humbling experience b/c I am the minority and don't entirely know everything that is going on. Lots of people are in situations like this on a daily basis.

It's good to step out of your comfort zone every now and then.

i'm excited about this summer.  i'm working in the waterpark again, and maria's gonna work there too! yay!! and some of the awesome people that i got to know last year! yay!

i'm so ready for school to be over, but i still want to see my school friends, i just have senioritis so bad it's not even funny. 

 my dance recital is this weekend. yay! it'll be fun. i'm kinda sad that dance will be completely over with after this week .  but i've been kinda stressed the past month about being able to get off work/ leave early the past few sundays so i could get to dance practice on time, and i'm pretty sure that if it went on too much longer, i wouldn't be able to get off, so i'm glad that that never happened and i don't have to stress about it anymore.  i really do enjoy dance tho, and it's weird that it's ending since i've done it pretty much my whole life.

 

here's a college update for anyone who doesn't already know: i've narrowed my list down to 3 schools. they are: liberty (va), asbury (ky), and jmu (va) ....and i don't know how i'm gonna choose b/c they're all amazing!!

last weekend me and sydni went up to jmu and stayed w/ my sister and it was really fun! we went to intervarsity (christian worship thing) on firday night, then afterwards four of the christian houses had desserts at them, so everyone could drive/walk to eat house and visit w/ people and eat yummy food. 

on sat. morning we went toa homeless soup kitchen thing that a church right near campus holds each sat. and we just spent time talking with the people that came. after that we ate lunch at d-hall and then meredith showed us some stuff on campus and took us to a park that's at the end of the campus.  i'm gonna go to an art class at jmu on thurs w/ one of meredith's friends to see what it's like.

 

this weekend i visited asbury again and it was also very fun! i got there late fri night b/c it's a long drive and i couldn't miss school.  i stayed w/ a girl there named bethany. she's a sophomore there and she's super friendly and reminded me of my friend audrey.  when i got there we went by the 24 hr prayer vigil that was going on (it was in the chapel, and several posters were set up about different prayer request (such as missonaries and katrina victims) were set up at the front of the chapel so you could see what specific issues/people need pray and pray for them.). 

after that we went to one of bethany's friends' room and watched the sisterhood of the traveling pants; there were about 10 people in there watchin the movie.  on sat we went to the cafeteria for breakfast.  then i went to an information session they had for visiting students w/ my family, after that i met back up with bethany and we went on a service project w/ about 15 other people to a place called shakersville to clean up the walking trails.  (there wasn't hardly any trash, but we had to clear sticks and decent sized rocks off the trails. it was actually very relaxing (once the weather cleared up) and it didn't feel much like work... and it was really pretty there). 

on sat. night i went to this really cool performance by the college's tumbling team.  after the tumbling thing i saw kaley, the girl i stayed with the other time i visited, which was really cool.  it was really cool that i saw her b/c bethany had gone to a musical off campus that she had made plans to go to before she knew i would be visiting, and so i just went ot the tumbling thing w/ my parents, and i decided to wait around afterwards to see if i saw anyone i knew b/c a few people at the trails that day talked about going, but i'm glad i saw kaley instead b/c i know her better.  we went to kareokee in the courtyard, which was held to raise money for a girl that goes to one of their sisterschools in kenya that they give a scholarship to.  i didn't sing b/c i'm a bad singer and i didn't know too many people there, but i had fun watchin other people and hangin out w/ kaley and lizzy (kaley's suitemate). lizzy sang a few songs, and she was good.  and they had free food :)   bethany got back when this was pretty much over, so we started watchin a movie, but we both fell asleep before it was halfway over.  i had to leave kinda early this morning so i could make it back in time for dance practice this afternoon.